David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 1029 (2022-08-19)

Notes (S1028)

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Notes (S1030)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (1),  Minor Issues (2),  Small Defects (1),  Continuous Improvement (1)
	Images from 2022-08-19 >>        [ Local Files >> ]

Session Aims & Highlights (2022-08-19)

Main aims

1. Targets.  Acquire images of a selection of variable stars, nearby stars, comets & deep sky targets as allowed by time & twilight conditions.
2. 107P/Wilson-Harrington.  Acquire images of comet 107P/Wilson-Harrington.  Not previously noted but see it showing in TheSky6 with predicted mag 7.4

 Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, DeviceHub 6.6.0.16,  MeadeGeneric 1.3.5.414, UPB 1.5, ASCOM 6.6
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.11
   
• AstroMain 3.53.7,  AstroPlan 1.31,   AstroShCap 1.3.12, AstroGuard 1.8.2
  AstroVOE 1.10  AstroSN 1.8.2,  AstroProtect 1.7,  AstroMove 1.9.1
  (AstroWeather 1.17.5, AstroAllSky 3.16,  AstroObsCam 1.9, AstroLaunch 1.9.4)

Highlights

•   Targets. 16 out of 18 planned targets were successful acquired. Two were unsuccessfully due to poor guiding (dim guide star was lost).
•   107P/Wilson-Harrington. Images acquired at the predicted location for the comet but no cometary objects was observed.

Notes:

• Aurora activity noticed on keogram plot (AllSky 2022-08-19.NightSummary5.jpg) at  01:00 local time
  
  

Summary Plots & Logs

Observing Plan

Observing Result

Dome & Scope Slewing Performance

Slew/Centering Performance

Guiding Performance

Sky Conditions (Locate Frames)

Night Sky Summary Plot Top axis: Sky Brightness at Zenith (in ADU/s) Lefthand axis: Local Time (hh LT). Righthand axis: Sun Altitude (degs)

Actual Weather vs Pre-Session Weather Forecast

Session Event Log

Time     Event Detail 22:50:02 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 22:50 & 03:31 22:50:05 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (22:50) 22:50:34 Session Created Session Created (Live, 2022-08-19 S01029, ImageSaveNum: 1029001) 22:50:36   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 22:52:18   Services Started Observatory Services started 22:52:24 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 22:52:26 Session Pending Session pending (2022-08-19) 22:52:28 Session Initiating Session initiating (2022-08-19) 22:52:30   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.31) 22:52:59   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 791) 22:53:21   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -10°C) 22:53:27   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 22:53:52 Session Equilibration Session ready to Open Dome 22:54:37   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 22:55:32 Session Running Session running 22:55:34   Queue Started Observing Queue started (18 targets selected) 22:55:37     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 20, HIP 98535) 22:55:51   Dome Unparked Dome unparked 22:57:51       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:01:42       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide) 23:03:53       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 23:03:55       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 23:06:07       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide) 23:07:54       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 23:08:12     Target Completed Target completed (Focus Field 20, HIP 98535) 23:08:58     Target Started (1/18) Target started (1/18, UGC 6983 w/SN2022pru) 23:12:52       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is lost (TCF-S) 23:29:48     Target Completed Target completed (1/18, UGC 6983 w/SN2022pru) 23:30:59     Target Started (2/18) Target started (2/18, NGC 5875 w/SN2022oqm) 23:33:31       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:35:48       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 23:52:06     Target Completed Target completed (2/18, NGC 5875 w/SN2022oqm) 23:52:58     Target Started (3/18) Target started (3/18, NGC 5894 w/SN2022pgf) 23:56:31       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:58:49       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 00:15:14     Target Completed Target completed (3/18, NGC 5894 w/SN2022pgf) 00:15:18     Target Started (4/18) Target started (4/18, IC 1132 w/SN2022prv) 00:18:41       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is lost (TCF-S) 00:35:08     Target Completed Target completed (4/18, IC 1132 w/SN2022prv) 00:36:58     Target Started (5/18) Target started (5/18, NGC 6745 w/SN2022prr) 00:39:45       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:41:47       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 00:57:40     Target Completed Target completed (5/18, NGC 6745 w/SN2022prr) 00:58:58     Target Started (6/18) Target started (6/18, KIC 8462852) 01:01:38       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:03:54       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 01:07:46     Target Completed Target completed (6/18, KIC 8462852) 01:09:04     Target Started (7/18) Target started (7/18, GCVS SS Cyg) 01:11:57       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:14:09       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 01:18:34     Target Completed Target completed (7/18, GCVS SS Cyg) 01:25:19     Target Started (8/18) Target started (8/18, GCVS Z And) 01:27:57       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:30:08       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 01:34:45     Target Completed Target completed (8/18, GCVS Z And) 01:35:12     Target Started (9/18) Target started (9/18, NGC 7753) 01:38:08       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:40:10       Focusing Failed Foc1 focusing failed (failed QC check - Ambiguous) 01:56:23     Target Completed Target completed (9/18, NGC 7753) 01:57:12     Target Started (10/18) Target started (10/18, GCVS BL Lac) 02:00:01       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:02:16       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 10) 02:06:27     Target Completed Target completed (10/18, GCVS BL Lac) 02:07:19     Target Started (11/18) Target started (11/18, NGC 7479) 02:10:36       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 02:26:28     Target Completed Target completed (11/18, NGC 7479) 02:29:18     Target Started (12/18) Target started (12/18, NGC 7492) 02:32:41       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 02:48:27     Target Completed Target completed (12/18, NGC 7492) 02:49:56     Target Started (13/18) Target started (13/18, Nova Per 2020) 02:53:01       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:55:16       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 11) 03:04:28     Target Completed Target completed (13/18, Nova Per 2020) 03:04:32     Target Started (14/18) Target started (14/18, 107P/Wilson-Harrington) 03:07:12       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 03:23:09     Target Completed Target completed (14/18, 107P/Wilson-Harrington) 03:23:40     Target Started (15/18) Target started (15/18, Nova Cas 2021) 03:27:29       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:29:28       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 12) 03:38:39     Target Completed Target completed (15/18, Nova Cas 2021) 03:38:43     Target Started (16/18) Target started (16/18, WDS GRB 34) 03:41:48       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:43:50       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 13) 03:45:54     Target Completed Target completed (16/18, WDS GRB 34) 03:46:43     Target Started (17/18) Target started (17/18, GCVS RX And) 03:49:19       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:51:34       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 14) 03:54:25 Obs.Monitor Frozen Obs.Monitor appears to be frozen at around 03:54 in section Update Foc1 Fields 04:02:55   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being killed and restarted in attempt to fix locked threads 04:02:57     Target Completed Target partially completed (17/18, GCVS RX And) 04:02:59     Target Started (18/18) Target started (18/18, GCVS HH And) 04:03:02   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 04:03:06 Session Closing Session closing 04:03:56   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 45s) 04:04:41   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 37s), Az: 90.0 deg 04:05:59   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 76s) 04:06:14   Telescope State Scope parked Turn scope off. (Handbox) 04:06:36   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 04:06:38 Program Crashed AstroMain program crashing whilst Shutting Down SBIG Camera 08:15:13 Session Resumed Session Resumed (Live, 2022-08-19 S01029, ImageSaveNum: 1029144) 08:17:07 Session Resumed Session Resumed (Live, 2022-08-19 S01029, ImageSaveNum: 1029144) 08:17:22   Obs.Manager Started Obs.Manager started 08:17:24   Obs.Overseer Started Obs.Overseer started 08:17:26   Services Started Observatory Services started 08:24:33 User Intervention User request to close and finish session 08:24:35 Session Closing Session closing 08:24:37   Dome Closed Dome already closed (closed at 04:03, closing time 45s) 08:24:39   Dome Parked Dome already parked 08:25:29   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 08:25:31 Session Housekeeping Session Housekeeping started (Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 08:25:58 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts

Time     Alert Detail 03:54:59 Obs.Monitor Obs.Monitor appears to be frozen in section Update Foc1 Fields (last cycle at 03:54:25) 04:03:00 Obs.Monitor Obs.Monitor has resumed again after 8.5 mins

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Operational Issues (2022-08-19, S1029)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (1)
• Minor Issues (2)
• Small Defects (1)
• Continuous Improvement (1)
  

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• AstroMain crashed with fatal exception with closing down SBIG Camera during Session Closing (04:06).  A check-in the following morning at 08:00 suggested that observatory hadn't finished and telescope was still slewing. Logging on remotely to the Observatory Computer showed that AstroMain program had crashed (at 04:06:38) during Shutdown of the SBIG Camera.  and JIT debugging revealed  'System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException "The RPC server is unavailable. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800706BA)"  in CloseDownCamera2() routine (at line 57059, globals.vb.  The same exception was caught immediately beforehand whilst attempting to turn off CCD cooling/CCD fan, but it is assumed that a particular Camera query (Camera.Temperature) whilst waiting for the CCD to rewarm wasn't within a Try Catch block and this caused the fatal exception/crash.
    Close Camera                           2022-08-20 04:06 (Local)
   Turn off CCD Cooling ...     Fail     The RPC server is unavailable. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800706BA)
   Turn off CCD Fan ...         Fail     The RPC server is unavailable. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800706BA)
   Wait for CCD to re-warm...
  Code examined, and changed to place Try Catch block around the code section that calls Camera.Temperature. The fix will prevent AstroMain from crashing again under same circumstances.  The reason why Camera object was producing the exceptions 'The RPC server is unavailable' is not understood/not resolved.
  Fixed  2022-08-20 (AstroMain 3.53.8)

Minor Issues

• Obs.Monitor froze for 8.5 mins whilst/after shooting 10s image (03:54).  Obs.Overseer reported that Obs.Monitor had become frozen at c. 03:54:25) in section 'Update Foc1 Fields', and the Job Queue also seemed to freeze.  TakeImageAsync() routine began a 10s image, at 03:54:00,  but the wait/monitoring loop timed out at 03:54:24.  This was a premature timeout due to another issue (see below).  Log message 'Recorded FITS Exposure Time 8s'  (rather than 10s expected) is a red-herring as the 'post-image' code was looking at the previous image (01029142), rather than the new 01029143 image.  New Folder shows that the image did download ok. It is unclear why the Obs.Monitor froze in 'Update Foc1 Fields', maybe it was accessing a Camera property (check code ?) . The Timing-Out by the TakeImageAsync may not be a direct factor since 2 earlier instances at  03:33:57 and  03:53:28 didn't lead to the Obs.Monitor freezing.   Closed after review on 2022-09-02 as there haven't been any problems with Obs.Monitor freezing in sessions S1031-1035 since a fix was attempted 2022-08-21 (AstroMain 3.53.9).
  Closed after review  2022-09-02 (AstroMain 3.53.9+) 
   
• TakeImageAsync() routine is occasionally timing-out prematurely before the image has finished downloading (00:33, 00:53, 00:54).  Log Files records 3 instances of 'Timed out on Camera.TakeImage'  where TakeImageAsync()'s wait/monitor loop timed out.  ( 03:33:57.80 | Nova Cas 2021,   03:53:28.67 | GCVS RX And,  03:54:24.04 | GCVS RX And).  Console/Report File shows a 'Fail' against the associated Image attempts and the message indicates that ImageNo hasn't ticked over to the expected new number and the 'post-image' code is evidently still looking at the previous image rather than the new one. Each case the FITS images is successfully written to disk, but it is evident from FITS Summary that post-image code hasn't written the expected additional FIts Header Keywords & Values.  Each of these cases involves a filter change and it is supposed that the particular filter change takes longer than the time assumed as part of the TimeOut calculation.  Tracing shows that a 3s delay is universally being used by the Camera ahead of each exposure.  This may not have been allowed for as part of the TimeOut calculation, and indeed the delay may not be neccessary at all, particularly between exposures where there is no change in Filter.  The CCDSoft Camera Control dialog  (Camera: SBIG ST-10/10XE) shows a 0.00s delay post-session, so is the AstroMain 'take image' code that changing (and then afterwards resetting) the delay for each image ?  Code shows  Camera.Delay  being saved to SaveDelay beforehand and the being restored from SaveDelay afterwards.  TimedOut calculation  is based on SecondsSince(TimePoint) > Exp + 5 + 8 where Exp is the exposure time in secs, 5s is the time allowed for any filter change, and 8s is the time allowed for download (based on 1x1 full frame image).  In case of the Timed Out' at 00:33 . (image call was made at 03:32:44.81,  and the 2x2 60sexposure began at 03:32:55.69). This suggests that the filter change took  7.8s not including the 3s delay prior to exposure starting.  With 3.0s download+postprocessing time recorded for subsequent image in the same filter set (2x2, 60s), the gross time required was 7.8 + 3 + 60 + 3 = 73.8s, but the time-out was made after 5 + 60 + 8 =  73s. The TimedOut calculation should be changed to always allow more than enough time - the expectation should be that Imaging will normally (99.9% of time) be successful, and the loop should ideally always be waiting for and then exiting upon seeing Camera.IsExposureComplete = True, and never timeout prematurely.  TakeImageAsync() timeout allow changed in AstroMain 3.53.8 from '= 5 + Exp + 8'  to '= 10 + 3 + Exp + 8 + 10' .  TimeOutPoint is now calculated prior to the wait loop rather than calculated at end test for time-out.
  Fixed 2022-08-20 (AstroMain 3.53.8)

Small Defects

• The Spectra Box for Nova Cas 2021 was incorrectly positioned on the target's JPG picture and an incorrect Spectra Profile was generated.  .To replay realtime images and try to understand what might have occurred. To run target spectral frames through Analysis and see if same result is given or not. Investigating showed that due to another issue where TakeImageAsync()'s wait/monitor loop was occasionally timing out prematurely it caused the first frame of the Spectral Image Set ( 2x2 60s S) to not have TargetID, TAG-RA, TAG-Dec keywords/data written to its Fits Header and the Spectral Analysis routine didn't have the necessary information to create a correctly positioned Spectra Box or create a valid Spectral Chart.  Underlying issue is resolved in AstroMain 3.53.8 (2022-08-20) and for post-session analysis of Nova Cas 2021, the issue is worked around by moving the first frame with imcomplete header data off to the ImageSet's 'Bad' folder.
  Resolved  2022-08-22 (AstroMain 3.53.8, ImageSet) 

• Review. TakeImage is inserting 3s delay,  is delay actually required and does it need to be as long as 3s ?. Tracing in TakeImageAsync() routine shows that a delay of 3s is made by CCDSoft.Camera.TakeImage before each exposure. The Camera.Delay property is set by AstroMain's 'take image' code to gPreImageDelay + delay  before each image.   where  gPreImageDelay is a global (reset to 0 after setting Camera.Delay) and delay is a parameter passed to TakeImage(). Code show that gPreImageDelay = gTimeDelayAfterSlew is set in SlewToObject_OriginalRoutine() but is otherwise set to be 0.   'delay' is normally 0 but from TakeMainScopeFrames the value of dDelayBeforeFrame is passed to TakeMainImage() / TakeImage() routines. Code should set dDelayBeforeFrame to 0 when shooting multiple frames of one filter, but this is evidently not always working and instead dDelayBeforeFrame variable is set to dDelay  (a global variable that is set to 3.0 in SetInitialParams() routine, but can be reset to 4.0 in ExecuteTarget_Ob() only called by adhoc 'on-the-fly' observing).  Reviewing log file shows that a delay is being added according to the current design. Is is doubtfull whether a 3s delay is neccessary after making a filter change. For a 3 x BV image set (this adds 6 x 3 = 18s to the total time to image a target), may be 1s should be added instead of 3s.  The delay is being added for first image in a set regardless of whether a filter change is actually made.  If it is first image set for a target and filter is C it can normally be assumed that filter wheel is already on C filter, following prior centering and autofocusing operations which use C Filter.  Fix attemped in AstroMain 3.53.8 using new version of SetFilter to pass back bFilterChanged to indicate if Filetr has actually been changed and use result to decide on value of dDelayBeforeFrame (this is now given a value of 1 instead of  dDelay (3 ) ).
  Fixed  2022-08-20   2022-08-20 (AstroMain 3.53.8)

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